Page 20 of Witch You Would
“Charlotte will be working with... Felicia!”
I really hoped the camera wasn’t pointed at me, because I had no clue what my face was doing. Hopefully still smiling. Mycheeks definitely hurt. I forced myself to clap for Felicia, who didn’t look as delighted as she should after stealing mypartner.
Okay, she hadn’t actually stolen my partner. I was still salty, though.
“We’re especially excited to be able to pair our local competitor, Penelope, with another Miami caster.”
What? Who? I stared at the hallway entrance.
“You may have seen his work on his popular Jinxd channel—”
No! No. No no no. Please no.
“—star ofMage You Look—”
Kill me.
“Leandro Presto!”
Leandro turned the corner, waving and grinning at nobody in particular. His safety glasses were on, hair slicked back, mustachewaxed and curled, and he wore a vintage yellow shirt covered in drawings of, I kid you not, hamburgers and French fries. Hefroze the instant he saw me, and we stared at each other across the room like stunned telenovela characters.
“Stop!” Tori shouted. “Let’s do that again. Penelope, Leandro, we need more enthusiasm, please.”
Leandro turned around and marched back into the hallway, shoulders up to his ears. Felicia chuckled. I wanted to stab herwith my pencil. Instead, I dug deep for excitement, some shred of satisfaction. All I could find was a sinkhole of despair.
With Leandro as my partner, I was totally fucked.
Chapter 5
Gil
I wore my goofy grin like a mask and tried to focus on Syd. They were explaining tonight’s group activity, which I had alreadybeen briefed on since I was providing the entertainment. My brain kept sliding sideways to Penelope, who stood next to mein the greatest apron I’d ever seen. Las llamas de mi amor! Legendary pun.
When I’d gotten my partner’s bio from Rachel earlier, I couldn’t believe it. Not only would I be stuck in a hotel with mysecret crush for two weeks, but we’d be working on spells together. I hadn’t had to fake how excited I was when I walked outto meet her.
Except Penelope was the woman from the park who hated me.
Maybe “hated” was a strong word. But last night had been a huge mess, one I had to clean up if Penelope and I were going towin this competition.
Funny how quickly my pessimism had flipped to “maybe we have a chance.” I knew what Penelope was capable of. Now I just hadto convince her that I wasn’t going to be a failboat captain.
“Our Spellebrities have a reputation to maintain, after all,” Syd said, cutting through my thoughts. “Some more serious thanothers.”
That was my cue. I went with mock confusion, looking around and mouthing,Me?while I pointed at my chest. Everyone chuckled.
Penelope’s smile looked super fake, though. Ouch. This was going to be a mission.
Syd wrapped up the scripted stuff. The judges left, probably to their trailers. The contestants were separated from the celebrities,and we were led back to our greenroom, abandoned until it was our turn for confessionals or publicity shots.
The place looked like a fancy hotel bar: expensive couches and leather chairs, glass-topped coffee tables, a dining area,even a bookcase stocked with random hardcovers. Tiered platters full of tiny appetizers lured me over to the polished mahoganycounter. College had taught me never to pass up free food. I filled a plate and inhaled egg sushi rolls, tiny quiches, prosciutto-wrappeddates, and pastelitos de guayaba that looked nothing like what I usually got from a Cuban bakery. The slits on top were ina flower shape, and they were covered in powdered sugar. I had two anyway.
Charlotte grabbed a sparkling water from the fridge and sat alone at a table. She might as well have wrapped herself in abunch of do-not-cross tape; she’d made it clear earlier that she wasn’t here to socialize with any of us.
Jaya and Zeke took up spots on the couches, trading recipes for cookies or something. Tanner joined them, his mellow voiceand accent reminding me of old movies and NPR reporters, which fit his old-timey vest-wearing vibe. If I didn’t know Zekewas from Pittsburgh, I probably would have ignorantly guessed Boston, though he sounded twangier. “Dey” instead of “they”kinda stuff. Jaya’s British Indian accent seemed faded, like she’d lived in the US for a long time.
I wondered what I sounded like to them? Super Miami?
The conversation wandered away from food, and even though Jaya and Tanner and Zeke tried to include me, they started talkingabout mutuals and contract renewals and options and some party they went to at the Home Casting Network building a few months earlier. It reminded me of events with my parents before they split up, when I was old enough to get dragged out and shown off for their friends and business contacts, but not to actively participate in their conversations.
